Kingman boys open home tourney with dominating win over Sterling

The Sterling boys never had a chance. Kingman’s offense clamped down early, allowing the Black Bears only two points in the first quarter, and those two were on Sterling’s final possession.

The Eagles never let up, and on Tuesday evening claimed the first game of its Eagle Classic tournament 69-33.

“I think our kids did a really good job of taking things away that they really like to do. I’m really pleased with their defensive intensity,” said Kingman head coach Steve Bangert.

The Eagle boys quickly moved into a double-digit advantage in the first quarter, before Jordan Profitt woke Sterling up with a deuce in their last possession to end the quarter 21-2. Kingman continued to dominate in following quarter, closing the half at 43-14.

While the Eagle defense caught the most attention, their offense didn’t do too shabby, either. Brandon Bradshaw and Braxton Bangert scored 7 in the first quarter alone. Mitchell Packard, Cody New and Braxton Bangert all reached double figures, with 15, 14 and 13, respectively.

Coach Bangert was tickled with the performance of not only his core players, but also the reserves who saw considerable playing time. A total of 10 Kingman players scored.

“Those kids are coming to practice and working hard every day,” said Bangert. “They got a JV victory tonight, and its good for them. They got some varsity minutes against varsity players. We tried to keep the intensity at a very high level, but still doing what was appropriate in the second half.”

Sterling will return to action Thursday night at the Eagle Classic, facing Conway Springs. The Eagles, in turn will face Conway Springs on Friday.

Bangert feels their odds are good against the Cardinals, but the key to success will lie in playing the same type of defense the Eagles played on Tuesday.

“We’re athletic enough and strong enough, that’s the kind of defense that we should be playing every night. We just got to get into passing lanes and make people feel uncomfortable. Hopefully we can do that Friday night,” Bangert said.

Sterling girls handle defeat Kingman 61-45

The Lady Black Bears outscored Kingman in all four quarters during the first round of the Eagle Classic Tuesday evening, putting the Eagles away 61-45.

Sterling leaped to a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, while holding Kingman to 8. The two teams posted identical stats in the second quarter.

Sada Smith went 6-6 from the foul line and scored 22 for the Eagles. Despite her scoring assault, which included back-to-back steals where she scored on a pair of layups in the fourth quarter, the Eagles couldn’t make up the gap. Kingman’s Drue Pinkston concluded the game with a buzzer-beater three-pointer to end the game with a nice consolation prize.

But the Indians never made it easy for the Wildcats. After Haven closed the first quarter 13-7, the Indians outscored Haven 13-9 in the second half to narrow the gap. But the Wildcats came back after the half to outscore Medicine Lodge 14-9 in the third quarter and rebuild a lead that the Indians could not erase.

Isaac Ensz also reached double figures for Haven with 10. Medicine Lodge was paced by Dane Hrencher and Scott Angell, who both scored 14.

Haven returns to action Thursday night to face Wellington. Medicine Lodge will also go up against the Crusaders next, playing on Friday.

Haven girls handily put away Medicine Lodge

The Haven girls began play in the Eagle Classic in Kingman with a solid Tuesday night victory over Medicine Lodge.

The Lady Wildcats outpaced the Indians in every quarter en route to a 59-30 win.

Three Haven players reached double figures. Tarin Oller led the way with 12, while Holly Davis and Samantha Stallbaumer each scored 11.

Emily Hrencher was the Indians’ leading scorer with 10.

Both teams will face Wellington next at the Classic. Haven will play the Crusaders Thursday, while Medicine Lodge will take on Wellington Friday.

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